登陆注册
15686800000054

第54章

William saw that sentence had been passed and all appeals for a new trial denied.He choked, and rushed into the house without more ado.

``Poor boy!'' his mother said.

``Poor boy nothing!'' fumed Mr.Baxter.

``He's about lost his mind over that Miss Pratt.

Think of his coming out here and starting a regular debating society declamation before his mother and father! Why, I never heard anything like it in my life! I don't like to hurt his feelings, and I'd give him anything I could afford that would do him any good, but all he wants it for now is to splurge around in at this party before that little yellow-haired girl! I guess he can wear the kind of clothes most of the other boys wear--the kind _I_ wore at parties--and never thought of wearing anything else.

What's the world getting to be like? Seventeen years old and throws a fit because he can't have a dress-suit!''

Mrs.Baxter looked thoughtful.``But--but suppose he felt he couldn't go to the dance unless he wore one, poor boy--''

``All the better,'' said Mr.Baxter, firmly.``Do him good to keep away and get his mind on something else.''

``Of course,'' she suggested, with some timidity, ``forty dollars isn't a great deal of money, and a ready-made suit, just to begin with--''

Naturally, Mr.Baxter perceived whither she was drifting.``Forty dollars isn't a thousand,''

he interrupted, ``but what you want to throw it away for? One reason a boy of seventeen oughtn't to have evening clothes is the way he behaves with ANY clothes.Forty dollars! Why, only this summer he sat down on Jane's open paint-box, twice in one week!''

``Well--Miss Pratt IS going away, and the dance will be her last night.I'm afraid it would really hurt him to miss it.I remember once, before we were engaged--that evening before papa took me abroad, and you--''

``It's no use, mamma,'' he said.``We were both in the twenties--why, _I_ was six years older than Willie, even then.There's no comparison at all.I'll let him order a dress-suit on his twenty-first birthday and not a minute before.

I don't believe in it, and I intend to see that he gets all this stuff out of his system.He's got to learn some hard sense!''

Mrs.Baxter shook her head doubtfully, but she said no more.Perhaps she regretted a little that she had caused Mr.Baxter's evening clothes to be so expansively enlarged--for she looked rather regretful.She also looked rather incomprehensible, not to say cryptic, during the long silence which followed, and Mr.Baxter resumed his rocking, unaware of the fixity of gaze which his wife maintained upon him--a thing the most loyal will do sometimes.

The incomprehensible look disappeared before long; but the regretful one was renewed in the mother's eyes whenever she caught glimpses of her son, that day, and at the table, where William's manner was gentle--even toward his heartless father.

Underneath that gentleness, the harried self of William was no longer debating a desperate resolve, but had fixed upon it, and on the following afternoon Jane chanced to be a witness of some resultant actions.She came to her mother with an account of them.

``Mamma, what you s'pose Willie wants of those two ole market-baskets that were down cellar?''

``Why, Jane?''

``Well, he carried 'em in his room, an' then he saw me lookin'; an' he said, `G'way from here!'

an' shut the door.He looks so funny! What's he want of those ole baskets, mamma?''

``I don't know.Perhaps he doesn't even know, himself, Jane.''

But William did know, definitely.He had set the baskets upon chairs, and now, with pale determination, he was proceeding to fill them.When his task was completed the two baskets contained:

One ``heavy-weight winter suit of clothes.''

One ``light-weight summer suit of clothes.''

One cap.

One straw hat.

Two pairs of white flannel trousers.

Two Madras shirts.

Two flannel shirts.

Two silk shirts.

Seven soft collars.

Three silk neckties.

One crocheted tie.

Eight pairs of socks.

One pair of patent-leather shoes.

One pair of tennis-shoes.

One overcoat.

Some underwear.

One two-foot shelf of books, consisting of several sterling works upon mathematics, in a damaged condition; five of Shakespeare's plays, expurgated for schools and colleges, and also damaged; a work upon political economy, and another upon the science of physics; Webster's Collegiate Dictionary; How to Enter a Drawing-

Room and Five Hundred Other Hints; Witty Sayings from Here and There; Lorna Doone; Quentin Durward; The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, a very old copy of Moths, and a small Bible.

同类推荐
热门推荐
  • 古穿今之契约影后

    古穿今之契约影后

    南朝备受宠爱小公主刘歆,穿到现代成了十八线小明星。刘歆有两个目标:一,成影后,赚够三千万,摆脱前世老公冷烈。二,让冷烈跪着唱征服。冷烈也有两个目标:一,管教前世老婆刘歆,让她乖乖听话。二,赚足够的钱,宠老婆,爱老婆,给她想要的一切。
  • 剑指江山寒玉无心

    剑指江山寒玉无心

    “当日你们为得到太子妃位,下毒害我,今日我要你们加倍偿还”,无心手执长剑,指着慕容复等人说。她被家人下毒,毁了倾世容颜,所幸捡回一条命,却失去了以往的记忆,在紫峰山呆了多年,得此神兵下山,势必报往日之仇......届时武林大会召开在即,不归山三煞即将下山,必将引起一场血雨腥风,家仇,情仇,她又该何去何从?“有本王在,就绝对不会让你有事。”山下之行,得王之真心,开始了不一样的江湖之旅……
  • 问天独尊

    问天独尊

    少年虽只剩下三年命,仍誓与天比高。雕虫小技也能玩的风生水起、威震八方。丹药一途,更是独领风骚。修仙路上,缘劫一线,看我如何翻手为云覆手为雨。
  • 兰林依旧

    兰林依旧

    神马?穿越?太尼玛的狗血了吧,为神马不是穿清?再不济穿唐也行啊……这都是个什么世界?居然说我土?21世纪的平凡高中生莫兰林糊涂穿越异界,她与那个世界有着怎样的联系,经历过一系列身份的变更,到最后她能找到自己的定位吗?在感情面前她挣扎过,逃避过,但是她最终会勇敢的面对并作出选择吗?
  • 快穿:男神,求倒追!

    快穿:男神,求倒追!

    【系统温馨提示:超甜宠文!神级虐狗!请在男朋友的陪同下翻阅!】什么?外星男友被劫持了!苏唯淡淡表示,抢回来。可是事实上,她只能咬咬牙跟人家谈条件争取让男票早点回来!为了救得美人归,她开始了各种奇葩的任务。#吸血鬼##中二少年##拯救同性恋的男主#……
  • 罂粟绽放之日

    罂粟绽放之日

    罂粟花,没有玫瑰的靓丽,没有牡丹的香气,有的只是那绝美中让人无法解脱的痛苦。彼岸中罂粟花开,此岸中落寞舞魂。
  • 华夏四正之涅槃火离

    华夏四正之涅槃火离

    自古华夏大陆多传奇,这个故事从神陆大地开始,什么样的战斗,又经过了多少岁月,四正的传奇从神陆大地进入华夏..
  • 龙兽之霸统天下

    龙兽之霸统天下

    泱泱大风,炎龙之陆。所谓尊者,矗立之巅。刀光剑影,凄风雪雨。昨夜征人,作古长揖。至位神冠,铸鼎九州。飞将安在,神旗烽烟。妩媚红颜,舞殿冷袖。吾辈为龙,卿语笙歌。皓皓如月,何时归吾?悲戚中来,缕缕不绝。江南初春,十里桃花。微微一笑,倾国倾城。众里寻她,千百之度。一秒盛放,追忆成殇。披坚执锐,战骑铁蹄。万里河山,尽收吾手。山何厌高,海不再深。神龙独虎,天下归心。感谢创世书评团提供论坛书评支持!
  • 木兰奇女传

    木兰奇女传

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。
  • 灭世天诛

    灭世天诛

    仙非仙,侠不存。理念碰撞,万世无存。到底是命运的安排,还是自强的崛起?且看背负天命的正德,是怎样向着心中的路,脚踏万物怒指苍天!演绎出一场荡气回肠的信念之歌……感谢阅文书评团提供书评支持